Shaukat Hayat

Shaukat Hayat(Urdu : شوکت حیات) born on 1 December 1950 in Patna,Bihar,India) is an Indian writer who writes in Urdu,Hindi.The stories of Shaukat Hayat contain elements which prove that he has never followed any "ism".Maybe this is the reason that he was not aggrandized as the average writers normally are. Yet, his story “Gumbad ke Kabutar” did receive a significant and overwhelming response from readers and critics.The story attracted veteran critics of Urdu the likes of Mehdi Jafar and Waris Alvi. They all praised the story and admitted that it has all the marks of greatness.In his stories, one may find allegory, flat narration and sometimes core values of the progressive movement. Though he has never followed the progressive writer’s manifesto fully (nor modernism, and he negated postmodernism as well), he says that his stories may be considered as modern or postmodern.His writings disprove him, too.Unlike those of progressive writers, his stories are full of metaphors and allegory—and unlike modern writers, he uses flat narration in many of his stories. Unlike post-modernwriters, he sometimes deviates from storytelling altogether. In spite of all this, critics admire Shaukat Hayat because of his mastery over literature and language.Shaukat Hayat strongly believes that fiction is not the product of a political scenario only,but it is the harvest that springs from all social, political and economic realities. All his stories move around this philosophy, but he never compromises with the artistic approach of writing. The pain, loneliness and disappointment that may be found in a few of his stories are actually the reflection of his experiences in life, all he has gone through.Joginder Pal in his book 'New Urdu Fictions' quotes that Shaukat Hayat is the innovator of new trend of Urdu Fiction referred to as 'Anaam Kahani,'that is,'The Namesless Story.' He is currently the President of "Pragmatic Writers Guild,Patna" and his stories are taught in Post Graduate courses at various universities in India and Abroad.